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An Unusual Resting Place

When you’re looking at a wobbegong under a ledge the last thing to come and land on your head is
another wobbegong. Actually you should never really anticipate anything sitting on your head while
your diving I suppose, but apparently it happens as I recently found out on Mermaid II’s most recent
Raja Ampat tour. Wobbegongs are in abundance in Raja Ampat and one of the many special things
that people come from all over the world to see. They are a very docile carpet shark that spends most of
it’s time laying in perfect camouflage under bommies and ledges. They look like characters from the
Muppets with their broad flat head, giant smiling mouth, little whiskers that sprout from their chin and
their decorative ribbon like tail. As I looked on at one of these ultra characteristic sharks I felt
something gently begin to settle on the back of my head. Thinking it was another diver coming to look
at the same wobbegong I slowly turned to see a yellow spotted underbelly and unmistakable whiskered
face now pressed against my mask. Shocked, I exhaled suddenly showering my new friend with
bubbles which was the point in where the resting shark realized I am not another piece of the substrate
and amicably moved on while gently swatting me with it’s dainty tail as it did so and leaving me and
the other divers who watched it happen in a fit of laughter and disbelief.

This trip was critter crazy and kickstarted with a bang on the first night! We had a great night dive at the picturesque Satonda Island halfway to Komodo National Park. Stargazers, Ambon scorpionfish, seamoths, robust ghostpipefish, skeleton and mantis shrimps …

Another trip with beautiful conditions – clear blue water and just enough current to bring all the good stuff in! The seamounts in North Komodo were packed with fish, and we found ourselves totally embedded in Surgeonfish, Snappers and Fusilliers …

Highlight this trip’s gotta be the Mantas in the south of the Komodo National Park. Famous for its cleaning stations, with any luck you’ll see these majestic rays lining up to get fixed by hundreds of cleaner fish. With good …